Using Consumer Law to Combat Criminal Record Barriers to Employment and Housing Opportunity

Employers and landlords often use criminal background checks to investigate potential employees and tenants, even though criminal record screening has been shown to be discriminatory, unreliable, and inaccurate. Criminal background checks often dash the hopes of people who have never even been convicted of crimes but were arrested at some point in the past. Understanding the Fair Credit Reporting Act and its interplay with state statutes can help legal services lawyers vindicate the rights of people harmed by criminal record screening.